World, meet Emily Stark
by blacky-green
Summary: A new person comes to live in the Avengers Tower. Her name is Emily. Emily Stark. Who is she? And what will she bring to the team? Set after the movie. OC! Rating changed to T for swearing.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One – Emily Stark Arrives in New York

Emily yawned tiredly as she dragged her luggage out of the Arrivals hall. The time difference was killing her. Seriously, the half a day between New York time and Singapore time was disorienting. Thankfully, she'd managed to sleep through most of the flight and had done her best to time her sleeping so as not to suffer too much from jet lag. As much as she loved coming to America, she'd never enjoyed the flight much, even though flying first-class was awesome.

She waved, spotting the person who was supposed to pick her up. "Hey Happy!" she called out, spotting him in the crowd, "Long time no see! Thanks for coming to get me." The driver simply smiled and took her luggage from her.

As Happy loaded her luggage into the SUV, she climbed into the backseat and settled down for a nap.

Emily was awoken by the shutting down of the engine. She released her seatbelt and climbed out, smoothing her hair and taking her luggage from Happy.

"Mr. Stark has asked me to inform you that you should proceed to the top floor, where Miss Potts will be waiting." Happy informed her.

"Awesome! Thanks Happy!" she wheeled her luggage into the elevator and rode it to the top floor, singing along to the AC/DC song that was playing.

Upon reaching the top floor, the doors opened and Emily strolled out, pulling her luggage along. "HELLO JARVIS!" she shouted, grinning widely, knowing that the intelligent system would recognise her voice.

As expected, a voice came over the intercom, "Welcome Back Miss Stark. Miss Potts is on her way now."

"Coolbeans. Thanks JARVIS."

"Will you be needing me to transport your luggage to your rooms, Emily?"

"That would be great, thank you JARVIS."

With that, a human sized robot appeared and took her two suitcases, leaving her with her backpack. She hummed to herself, settling herself on the couch to wait for Pepper. The elevator dinged just as she was pulling out a book to read. Emily stood up at once and headed over to hug to woman that emerged.

"Pepper!" she exclaimed happily.

"Emily! I'm afraid Tony is away at the moment. But there are a couple of things that we can go through first before he arrives." She smiled, returning the hug. "Since your stay is more long term this time, Tony has put some money into a bank account he opened in your name," she explained, opening up a laptop. "Now, I need you to key in a 6-digit password for the account, and then sign here." She handed over a digi-pen and pointed at the line on the screen. Pepper turned away as Emily keyed in the number. Once she was done, Pepper handed over two cards. "This is the ATM card, and this is the debit card. Tony knows how much you hate credit cards." They shared a smile at this. "Also, here's your phone. All the important numbers have already been put into it. Including mine. All the other things have already been installed in your room. I think Tony went a little overboard this time. You know how he can be." Pepper winked at her. Emily just laughed.

"Thanks Pepper. I'm so excited to be here."

"Alright, I guess it's time for me to show you to your floor."

"Woah! I have a whole floor to myself? NICE!"

Pepper laughed easily at the girl's excitement. "All the residents of the tower have their own floor, designed specifically to their needs."

"There are other residents?"

"Oh yes, you'll be meeting them later." Pepper smiled secretively.

Emily was curious. Never had there been other residents of Stark tower. The two women proceeded to the elevator and rode down to the 48th floor.

"Naturally, Tony has the 49th and 50th floors, while the 51st floor serves as a common area. Yours will be the 48th. The five other floors below yours are also occupied. And as usual, the offices are on the first 20 floors, and the labs on the next 10, as well as the basement. However, there are a couple of labs on the residential floors."

The elevator doors opened into a nice common area with a kitchen and dining area. There were a few doors along the sides. Pepper opened the first door. "Bedroom. The two doors are for the bathroom and your walk-in closet." She moved to the next door. "Tony built you a mini dance studio, with built in audio system." They moved to the next room. "This is your study. It wasn't safe to put a chemistry lab up here so you'll have to go down for that." They went back to the living area. "Lastly, your balcony." Pepper told her, pressing a button and the glass doors slid open to an area with some plants and furniture, with a retractable roof.

Emily was stunned into silence. "Sorry to just leave you here, but I have a meeting to attend." Pepper said. She gave Emily one last hug before leaving via the elevator.

Once Pepper left, Emily carried her backpack over to her room and dumped it on the vanity. She looked around. It seemed like all her boxes had already been unpacked. Now she just needed to figure out where all the stuff was.

She opened the wooden door off to the side and poked her head in. "Holy shit!" she exclaimed. The walk-in closet was a mini-room all by itself. An entire wall of mirrors, which also seemed to be cupboards, a wall of shoe racks and on the last side, was one of those revolving circular clothes hangars. She headed over to the mirrors and started opening up the compartments. All her 'stay home clothes' were neatly stacked on one side, a sock drawer, underwear drawers, even her beauty products. On top of all that, it seemed like Tony Stark had bought a whole lot of other random things that Emily loved. She slowly backed out of the room and walked to the other door only to find the most luxurious bathroom ever. Black marble and chrome accents. A huge tub, a mini-sauna room, a rain shower with regular shower attachments installed, a huge sink with a mirror and of course a small laundry area.

Emily shook her head and continued exploring the rest of her 'apartment'. The kitchen was fully equipped. Fridge, stove, blender, expresso machine, oven, toaster, microwave, it seemed like every available kitchen appliance had been put into the kitchen area. Tony had also seemed to find space for a mini-bar. Emily let out a small laugh at that. He knew she didn't drink. Still, she enjoyed mixing random cocktails and mocktails.

The balcony was amazing. A garden, with lawn chairs, a table and one of those big umbrella thingys.

The living room was the most comfy space ever. With a couple of huge bright bean bags, a large television, stereo, game consoles, and the most delicious feeling couch. Emily lay down on the couch and closed her eyes for a minute, savouring the sheer comfort of it. 'He definitely went overboard for all this. But damn, I love it.' Was her last thought before she fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Authors Note:**

**Hello everyone! Wow the number of responses I got to my last chapter was amazing! I'm glad there are people out there who want to read about the crazy shit that goes on in my head! Anyway, I'd love if you guys can give more reviews! What did you like, what did you hate, what would you like to see? Things like that. If not I may end up stagnating. I get strokes of inspiration for fics then the ideas slowly die off, and so does the fic. Which just depresses everyone.**

**ON WITH THE STORY.**

**In this chapter, the relationship between Emily and Tony is finally revealed.**

**Also, Emily meets the Avengers.**

Chapter Two - Who is Emily Stark?

Emily slowly stirred from her place on the couch. She yawned widely and stretched her arms up above her head, smiling sleepily. She'd enjoyed her nap. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and glanced at the time. 6.30pm, just enough time for a shower before preparing dinner. She wondered when Tony Stark would arrive, but brushed it off. Pepper would let her know.

The rooted through her new closet and pulled out some underwear, followed by a worn t-shirt and her favourite denim shorts. She headed to the bathroom, placing all her clothing on a small shelf outside the shower. She stripped off and stepped in, closing the sliding door behind her. Turning on the spray of water, she let herself get soaked before reaching out to lather some shampoo into her hair. She quickly followed up with conditioner, leaving it in while she soaped her body and washed her face. She finally rinsed everything off before stepping out and towelling herself dry. She put on the clothes she had brought in with her and picked up her old clothes, which had been discarded on the floor. She simply dumped them in the washing machine before towelling her hair. Once it was as close to dry as it could be, she hung the towel up on one of the wall hooks. As she walked back into her bedroom, she noticed the light on her phone blinking. She checked it and found one new message from Pepper.

_Tony is back. On 51__st__ floor with other residents of Tower. See if you can convince him to have dinner on time for once! (:_

Emily grinned. Time to go meet her host! She made one last stop in her closet, slipping on some fluffy slippers, grabbing her largest hoodie and an elastic band for her hair. With that, she skipped to the elevator, checking that her phone was still in her pocket. She rode the elevator up to the 51st floor.

When the doors opened, the first thing she noticed was Tony Stark fiddling with a couple of screens while conversing with JARVIS. His back was to her. She smiled.

"UNCLE TONY!" she all but shouted, stepping out of the elevator, not noticing the other people gathered in the area a little off to the left.

Tony Stark spun around. "Damn it JARVIS! Why did you not tell me that the little gremlin was already here!" he scolded his AI system.

"Sir, she arrived while you were in the middle of the meeting."

"Come on, Uncle Tony! Do I have to do this every time I visit?"

Tony Stark groaned, bracing himself for what was to come.

"_Why Emily! How have you been? I've missed my favourite niece! _Uncle Tony! It's been too long, I've missed you too! _I'm so glad you're finally here! Come give your old uncle a hug! _Of course!" Emily held this mini-conversation with her herself, not noticing the incredulous looks she was receiving from the other people and ignoring the eye-roll from Tony. Upon completing her speech, she bounded over to Tony and gave him a hug, which he returned begrudgingly. He had learnt long ago not to say no to Emily and her hugs.

"God, I missed you Uncle Tony! Mom and Dad are the best, but they never understand the things I say! They send their love by the way." She told him, hugging him tight, ignoring the press of his arc reactor to her chest.

"Well, if it isn't my favourite little gremlin. At least you speak English. I'm pretty sure that's the only reason I keep flying you over." He snarked, ruffling her hair.

"HEY!" she exclaimed, hands flying up to smooth it back down, "By the way, Pepper wants me to convince you to have dinner on time today." she said, turning around and freezing once she realised she was being watched by five other pairs of eyes. "Uhhh…hi?" she ventured, raising her hand in what resembled a wave. "You all live here?" she asked while making her way towards them eyes trained on the redhead and the man next to her. They looked the most dangerous.

Since she was watching them and not where she was going, she ended up missing a step and started falling headfirst towards the rug in the middle. She let out a shout of surprise, bringing her arms up automatically to brace herself for impact with the floor, which never happened. She opened her eyes to see who had caught her and found herself staring at a rather muscular chest. She looked up to the face. "Thank you for catching me, though I'll probably end up with another injury by the end of the week anyway. Hey…you look familiar." She said, peering up into the face of Steve Rodgers.

"Steve Rodgers, Ma'am. I don't believe we've met."

"OH!" she gave a gasp of surprise. Tony snorted from somewhere behind her. "I know why you look so familiar now. Grand-Howard used to have this picture of you somewhere. I swear every other time I saw him he's have something to say about the great Captain America." She said, straightening herself up as she did so. She never noticed Steve going a bright red behind her as she turned to look at the rest of the people gathered in the comfortable area. She was scanning the room when she noticed something on the table in front of the large blonde man. "That looks like…oh wow. Is that really the Mjolnir? Can I touch it!" she asked excitedly, looking pleadingly at Thor.

"You may. You know of Mjolnir?" he asked.

"Yeah! They covered it at school during the mythology course. I'm assuming you're Thor then."

"I am Thor of Asgard, son of Odin."

"Man, this thing is so cool! It's real!" Emily exclaimed, touching Mjolnir, tracing the grooves with her fingers. Once she'd had enough, she looked up at the other three occupants. "I'm sorry, but I don't really know who you guys are…"

Tony came over and started doing introductions for them all. "This," he said, pointing at Natasha, "is Natasha Romanov. Also known as Black Widow. Master Assassin and interrogator."

"Cool." Emily smiled and walked over reaching out to shake her hand. "You have amazing hair by the way." She complimented, smiling, earning her a small quirk of the lips from the woman. This put her at ease. Somewhat. She looked a lot less scary that way.

"At least you're not as obnoxious as Stark. That's a relief."

"Maybe not, but I'm a whole lot more crazy." She aid with a huge grin before turning to the man next to her.

"This is Clint Barton," Tony began, "also known as Hawkeye. Archer. Never misses."

Clint nodded at her. So Emily figured he didn't want to shake her hand. She smiled and turned to the last guy.

"This is Dr. Bruce Banner-"

"Are you kidding me?" she exclaimed, excited. "Wow." She extended her hand towards him. "It's an honour to meet you Dr. Banner. I think your work in the field of gamma radiation is amazing. Also, the fact that you turn into a giant Hulk is totally awesome."

Bruce smiled. "I can see how the two of you are related."

"Hey, has anyone tried poking you with a cattle prod? We should try that. I've always wanted to try that!"

The other occupants gaped at her, while Tony and Bruce chuckled. "Unfortunately, Tony has already tried."

"It's boring. Nothing happens."

"Damn. That's no fun."

"Are you guys crazy?" Steve asked, looking between Emily and Tony incredulously.

"Nope." They replied in unison.

"Hey, I'm hungry. What's for dinner?" Emily asked heading to the kitchen. "The kitchen is stocked right Uncle Tony?"

"Just throw a frozen pizza in the microwave or something. Wait make that 7 pizzas. The Captain here and Thor eat a lot."

Emily opened the fridge to pull out the pizzas. "I love you Uncle Tony!" She exclaimed when she spotted the berries stocked in the fridge. She knew full well that Tony had no love for berries, yet here they were.

"Those aren't for you gremlin. Those belong to the good Captain." Tony replied without looking up. He knew his niece had found the strawberries Steve kept in the refrigerator. Emily pouted, but it served no purpose as her back was still to the other occupants as she was unwrapping the chilled pizzas.

"You can help yourself to some ma'am." Steve offered, rising from his seat to help the lady.

"Thanks Captain!" she turned around intending to smile at him, only to jump, startled when she realised how close he was. "But please, call me Emily."

"Unless you'd rather call me gremlin like Uncle." She added as an afterthought.

"Emily it is then. I must ask you to call me Steve." He smiled as he helped load the pizzas into the oven. Once they were heating, the pair headed back to the lounge to join the others.

"What is this gremlin of which you speak, Man of Iron?" Thor boomed, looking at Tony expectantly.

"JARVIS, the Cambridge definition for our Asgardian friend."

"Sir, a gremlin is defined as: an imaginary little creature which gets inside things, especially machines, and makes them stop working."

"Yeah. Emily makes you brain stop working." Tony teased, grinning widely at his niece, who childishly stuck her tongue out at him.

"As if anything I do ever makes your brain stop working." Was her retort as she sprawled across the couch.

Tony sat at the edge and shoved her legs off it to make space for himself. "So what's the plan?" he asked, looking over at his niece.

"Well, I'm still waiting to hear from the universities around. I sent in my applications already. Figured I could just play around in the labs and do random stuff in the meantime. I have almost an entire year of waiting thanks to the different school year."

The oven dinged and Steve, Emily and Bruce got up to serve the pizzas. They brought them over to the others and the pizzas were pounced on immediately. Conversation flowed freely over dinner, mainly between the Avengers. Emily was perfectly content to listen, laughing at appropriate moments and adding comments here and there. She watched them, smiling whenever her uncle nudged her in the side.

She learned a lot from watching her companions at dinner. Thor, while supposedly a God, was woefully unaware of many things on Earth, or Midgard, as he called it. It was funny watching them trying to explain certain things to him. Also, Steve's cluelessness when current events or technology was discussed. Dr. Banner was surprisingly quiet, preferring to observe and usually only actively engaging Uncle Tony in conversation. The others seemed really wary of him and no one sat to close. Emily supposed it was because of what she now knew Dr. Banner referred to as 'the other guy'. People were afraid of him. Even his supposed teammates. Emily could understand the fear, but like her uncle, she could not bring herself to be afraid of the mild-mannered man. He was far too genial and warm for her to be afraid of.

If she were to be completely honest, she felt that Natasha and Clint were scarier than Dr. Banner. Natasha seemed to be warming up to her somewhat, but she could tell that she was still distant. As was Clint, who was actually rather funny once he started talking. His sense of humour was similar to her uncle's, except Tony Stark was a lot more crude and vulgar most of the time.

A couple of dirty jokes had Clint and Emily rolling around laughing while Natasha watched them, amused. Thor smiled politely, looking confused and Bruce grinned widely. Steve had turned a bright red and mumbled something about 'inappropriate behaviour in front of young ladies' until Bruce had pointed out that Emily was laughing the hardest. Steve just shut up and stayed a bright red colour, refusing to make eye contact with anyone.

Once Emily had caught her breath, she looked around at the little mismatched group of heroes. It was funny how well they managed to get along. She would have thought that they would clash all the time. From the stories she'd heard, that had happened in the beginning.

She grinned widely, she couldn't have imagined a better start to her stay in the big US of A. Living with the Avengers, which included her favourite uncle, a god, another famous scientist, an old warrior an archer and an assassin? Best thing ever. She smiled mischievously to herself. Time to bring the pandemonium.

**END OF CHAPTER 2!**

**Please Review! I need feedback. I don't really know how to go from here. The plot bunny actually only gave me until Emily's little monologue. **

**Help is very much appreciated.**

**Hope you liked!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey everyone! I've been rather motivated by the story alerts and reviews!**

**I'd like to give special thanks to CaptainPollux who gave me very detailed constructive feedback!**

**And to all of you who reviewed!**

**Please let me know what else you think of the story!**

**In this chapter, we find out who the early risers are and who are the grouchy ones…**

Chapter 3 – Time to wake up!

Emily rolled over in bed and grabbed blindly at the bedside table for the clock. 6.45am. She stretched languidly and rolled herself out of bed, landing on the floor with a thump. She untangled herself from the blankets and threw them back onto the bed before picking herself up and heading to her closet. Once she was in her closet, she quickly picked out a pair of jeans and a comfortable t-shirt, as well as other necessary items before heading to the bathroom to start her morning routine. She brushed her teeth quickly before hopping into the shower. Once she was done, she exited the bathroom and quickly made her bed before picking up her phone and going to the kitchen.

She rooted around in the cupboards before finally deciding that breakfast burritos were a good idea and began pulling out all the ingredients she needed. Since she was up and she knew her uncle would probably still be asleep, she decided to make him one too. Then she decided that it was a good idea to make burritos for all the residents of the tower. She did a mental count in her head. That would mean making about 10 burritos, since Thor had the largest appetite ever. And would probably eat 4. So hat meant, one for her, one for uncle Tony, one for Steve, one for Dr. Banner, one for Clint, one for Natasha and four for Thor. Perfect.

With that, she pulled out the largest bowl she could find and cracked ten eggs into it. Grabbing a fork she beat the eggs into submission before adding some milk. Then she hunted around for a frying pan before rinsing it placing it on the stove, turning on the heat to allow the pan to dry. She turned back to the fridge and was in the process of pulling out the chopped bacon she saw when she was startled by a voice coming from behind her.

"Is everything alright?" came Steve's voice. Emily jumped in surprise, banging her head on the top of the fridge.

"Ow..." she groaned, extracting herself from the small space, the packet of bacon bits in hand.

"Hey Steve, what's up?" she asked casually, rubbing her head gingerly.

"Uhhh..." he started looking around, "I heard some banging noises coming from up here and thought something had happened..."

"Oh...Sorry about that. I hope I didn't wake you up."

"It's not me you should be worried about. I'm usually up by 6. Old habit."

"Oh that's good then." Emily replied as she grabbed a wooden spatula. "Wait a minute, if it's not you I should be worried about, then who...?"

"Clint. He lives on the floor below you and if I heard you from my floor then he definitely did. I don't know how he's going to react to being woken up at 7.30 in the morning. Natasha is a floor below that but she sleeps pretty soundly. Bruce and Thor live below my floor and they aren't bothered by noise much."

"Oh dear." she said, as she fried up the bacon bits before adding the egg. "I hope Clint isn't too mad... Maybe the breakfast will make him feel better?" she asked hopefully.

"Let's hope so. Since I'm here, is there anyway I can help?" Steve asked, looking around.

"Sure!" Emily said, switching off the stove. "Could you please pass me the wraps? And could you help me find the cling wrap?"

She smiled as Steve passed her the plate with the wraps on it and went hunting for the cling wrap, being a lot more quiet than she was.

She scooped a generous portion of bacon and eggs onto the middle of each wrap before wrapping it up. Then she wrapped them all up nicely with the cling wrap Steve had found in some corner of her kitchen.

"Thanks Steve."

"Don't mention it."

"Hey, could you do me a favour?"

"Anything I can do to help."

"Could you get everyone up to the 51st floor? I'll go get Uncle Tony. I know how he is in the mornings. Meet you up there?"

"Sure." he replied before taking the elevator down to gather the other Avengers.

Emily put the breakfast burritos onto a large plate before summoning the elevator and taking it up to her Uncle's floor. Once she arrived, she placed the burritos on a small table before going on the hunt for her Uncle.

The first door she opened led to his lab so she simply shut it and moved on. The next door she opened had some odd looking objects in it. She had no idea what they were. knowing her uncle, they could be anything, so she closed that door and continued looking for him. As they say, third time's the charm. It seemed to be so in this case. She opened a door that led to a bedroom. She couldn't see her uncle, but there was a large lump in the middle of the bed that looked like it was him. She smiled evilly to herself before running in and launching herself onto the bed, causing the lump to bounce slightly. She laughed loudly as she heard some colourful swear words issue from the lump of covers on the bed. Yup, that was her uncle alright.

She pulled the blankets off him forcefully before throwing them on the floor so he couldn't get to them.

"Come on Uncle Tony! Time to wake up!"

"...don't wanna. Go away!" he mumbled, burying his face into his pillow.

"Come one Uncle Tony! I even made breakfast!"

"...go away! I'll eat it later."

"Well, if you don't go now, Thor might eat everything."

"Don't give a damn. Let me sleep."

"Uncle !" she whined, bouncing on the bed vigourously.

He ignored her.

She started poking him in his sides, knowing he was slightly ticklish. "Come on, Uncle Tony, pleeeeeaaaassseeee!"

He let out a groan of frustration. "Alright, alright. I'm up!" he all but shouted, getting out of bed and heading to the bathroom. "Damn annoying brats..." he mumbled to himself.

"I love you too Uncle Tony!" she called out as he slammed the door. She lay down on his bed and waited for him to emerge from the bathroom.

Less than ten minutes later, Tony opened the bathroom door.

Emily sat up and smiled, grabbing him by the arm. "Come on, Uncle Tony! Let's go upstairs! Steve should have gotten everyone up by now."

Tony rubbed his forehead and followed his niece, still mildly groggy. "I'm too old for this shit." he mumbled to himself, trying to tune out the disturbingly perky girl who was dragging him into the elevator.

Once they arrived on the 51st floor, Tony detached himself from his niece and headed to the coffee machine and pouring himself a cup. He took a large gulp and sighed in relief. He sat down at the table before noticing that Clint was up as well, nursing his own cup of coffee, glaring at it moodily.

"Well, someone looks worse than I feel." he commented, with a sidelong glance at Clint.

Clint looked up at Tony, only just realizing his presence. He noticed a plate descending to the table and looked up at the person who was holding it before glaring at her.

"Well, I wouldn't be if I wasn't woken up by your damn niece banging around her kitchen at 7 freaking am in the morning!" he growled, annoyed.

"I'm sorry." Emily muttered, feeling bad for waking him up. "But I made breakfast for everyone?" she offered hopefully.

Clint stopped glaring and eyed the plate warily. "Whatever. Just don't do it again. Anyway, I'm not talking to you until I feel less like Banner when he's about to go green."

"Oookay. What did I just hear?" Bruce asked as he stepped out of the lift with the rest of the Avengers.

"Damn kid woke me up at 7 freaking am. I am pissed." Clint growled staring at all of them before folding his arms and sulking like a petulant kid.

Natasha smirked, but wisely chose not to say anything. Banner just smiled genially.

"Come now friend! Do not be so down. Friend Steve tells me that the lady has prepared us a feast!" Thor boomed.

"Uhhhh...I wouldn't call it a feast." Emily said, rubbing the back of her neck, "But I did make everyone breakfast burritos." she began handing them out, leaving 4 on the plate and passing the entire plate to Thor.

Thor smiled, "Thank you, daughter of Stark! I am sure I will enjoy the food you have prepared." he declared before biting into a burrito.

"What is this strange substance?" he asked, trying to chew the cling wrap.

"Oh GOD." Emily groaned, before going over to him, as her uncle and Clint laughed and the other three tried to suppress smirks. "You're not supposed to eat that." She said, removing all the cling wrap from his 4 burritos. "I put it on to protect the food."

"How odd." Thor said before pulling the cling wrap he had chewed out of his mouth. He chewed his mouthful of burrito and swallowed, smiling. "This is most delightful! What is this substance?" he asked, holding up the burrito.

"It's a bacon and egg burrito." She smiled, unwrapping hers.

The others unwrapped their burritos and started eating them.

"Hey, this is really good!" Steve said, as the others nodded in agreement.

"Better damn well be if I have to get at up 7 because of it." Clint grumbled before taking a bite of his. "…doesn't suck." Was all he said before he went back to eating.

Emily smiled nervously as she eyed Clint. She really did feel bad about waking him up in the morning. Natasha nudged her in the side. "Don't worry about it. He'll be over it by lunch." She reassured the girl. "This is great by the way." She complimented, finishing up her burrito. "Since we know you can cook, you'll be added to the food roster."

"Food roster?" Emily asked, curious.

"Each person is responsible for certain meals. Only applies to dinner. You can cook or order in. Phil made us do it."

"…who's Phil?" Emily asked, curious.

"You'll find out soon enough."

**DUN DUN! CLIFFHANGER. Sorry.**

**I didn't know how to end this chapter.**

**Hope you liked it. Review please!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello everyone!**

**I'm really happy people like this story so I will try my hardest to keep up with the chapters.**

**However, the next chapter might take a while since I'm taking a small break to write up a character sketch, as advised by my beta.**

**I would also like to thank the very awesome CaptainPollux for offering to be my beta and doing a wonderful job! Things would have been very different if not for you! This chapter was inspired by CaptainPollux, who suggested I explore this aspect.**

**Okay, on with the story!**

**Sorry to disappoint. Not Coulson yet. ):**

Chapter 4 – An Invitation to Lunch.

After announcing to the room that she was exempt from cleanup duty because she cooked, Emily headed back down to her floor and spent the next few hours catching up on NCIS. Once she had enough, she decided to head down and explore the labs in the Tower.

She took the elevator to the lowest floor and exited into a lab. She spotted Dr. Banner working at a bench and she was about to announce her presence when she walked into a small metal cart. The resulting crash startled Dr. Banner and he looked up from what he was working on and smiled when he saw Emily glaring darkly at the cart and muttering something under her breath while rubbing at her hip.

"I'm sure the cart deserved whatever curses you're wishing upon it." he teased, smiling.

Emily glanced at him sheepishly. "Sorry about that. Didn't mean to startle you."

Dr. Banner waved a hand dismissively. "It's alright. I'm not doing anything important right now. Just going over some calculations."

"Can I see?" she asked, curiously, peering over his shoulder.

"Sure." Dr. Banner replied, pushing the paper over to the side before taking off his glasses and rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"Okayyyy…" Emily began, tilting her head quizzically, "…I have no idea what I'm looking at."

Dr. Banner laughed, replacing his glasses on his face. "I'm trying to find the differences between the serum used on Steve and the one I used on myself."

"Why?" Emily asked, a little skeptical.

"Well, I was pretty sure I made the exact same formula, but the results were drastically different."

"Well, maybe the conditions were different? Or something. If the formula was identical then there must have been another factor that affected it right? Temperature, pressure, environment, something."

Dr. Banner nodded.

"Hey maybe you could ask Steve for some of his DNA. Take yours, Steve's and maybe Uncle Tony's and compare it. Maybe Thor's too, just for fun. Maybe Clint instead of Uncle Tony… I have no idea how the shrapnel and the arc reactor may have affected him. Might as well take everyone's."

Emily was about to expand upon her theory when she felt her phone ring. "One moment." She smiled at Dr. Banner before picking up.

"YO! What's up!" she called into the phone, a huge grin on her face.

"Hey Emily, we're going out for lunch. Want to come with us?" came Natasha's voice over the phone. Emily paused, thinking about it. She heard some angry muttering come from somewhere down the line.

"Shut up, Barton. So, you coming?" Natasha asked.

"No thanks, maybe next time. See you at dinner?"

"Alright then, see you. I'm not on dinner duty today!" Emily could hear the hint of a smile in her voice before Natasha hung up.

She looked up at Dr. Banner, who was looking at her curiously.

"Natasha." Emily said in way of explanation. "They're going for lunch."

"You should have gone with them." Dr. Banner suggested, smiling.

Emily wrinkled her brow. "Nahh. Clint's still mad about this morning. Don't want to risk it."

Dr. Banner tried to suppress a smirk.

Emily stuck her tongue out at him childishly, which only caused him to laugh.

"Hey, why didn't you go with them!"

Dr. Banner shrugged. "They never asked."

Emily was curious. She hopped up onto the lab bench opposite him. "Why not? You don't look like the type to complain about food."

Dr. Banner was silent, he didn't meet her eyes, instead focusing on the sheet of paper with his equations.

"Is this because of the Hulk?" she asked, scooting forward.

Dr. Banner hesitated before answering. "While they accept that the…_other guy_…is part of the Avengers team, most of them are still afraid of him. And since, you know, I'm him, they are some what afraid of me by default." Dr. Banner answered honestly, no hint of anger or annoyance in his voice.

"Doesn't that make you angry?"

Dr. Banner looked up at her with a wry smile.

"Okay, wrong choice of words. Isn't it so frustrating to have your teammates, people who are supposed to trust you, be so afraid of you that they won't even have lunch with you? That's incredibly..."

"…smart of them. They're not wrong. I don't blame them. Everyone knows that while I may have a lot of control over the other guy, I don't have total control."

"I was going to say that it was incredibly shitty of them but you interrupted me with all that self-loathing crap. I don't buy it by the way."

"Then you're either extremely brave, or extremely stupid."

"I think you're being incredibly stupid." came her childish response, eliciting a smile from the physicist.

Emily waved her arms around in the air as she continued, "I'm not saying I won't run away if the Hulk tries to smash me or anything, because if that ever happens, I'm definitely going to run as fast as I can and maybe scream like an idiot too, but how likely is that to happen?

I mean, from what Uncle Tony has told me, you have pretty good control over the Hulk right, so even if I like slap you or something, you're not going to transform and start smashing everything including me. So what's their problem?"

"You don't understand…"

"No, _you_ don't understand!" she protested vehemently. "You're so convinced that the Hulk will cause so much damage to everyone that you allow other people to treat you like shit to 'make up' for it. That's rubbish."

"But…" Dr. Banner started, trying to make the girl see some sense.

Emily clapped her hands over her ears. "LALALALALALALALA! Whatever you say, I'm not listening to you!"

Dr. Banner stared at her incredulously. "Oh god, you're worse than Tony." He muttered, rubbing at his face.

Upon hearing his quiet comment, Emily removed her hands from their position over her ears and smiled.

"Why thank you!"

"That was not meant to be a compliment." Dr. Banner mumbled under his breath.

Emily just continued smiling. She shrugged in response before hopping off the table and going round it towards Dr. Banner.

She grabbed him by the wrist and started dragging him out the door.

"Come on then Dr. Banner! Since they didn't invite you to lunch, we're making the most awesome lunch ever, NOT inviting them, then taking multiple photographs so we can show them what they missed." She told him as she pushed him gently into the lift and they headed for the 51st floor.

**END OF CHAPTER!**

**Okay, please review! Ideas are most welcome! And will be credited. (:**


	5. Chapter 5

**HELLO READERS!  
I still can't really believe that people read this but YAY!**

**So I'm still working on the heavy stuff but to tide you over, here is a small chapter. Pretty much filler though.**

**I promise a heavier chapter next time!**

**STILL NO COULSON. SORRY.**

**Once again, special thanks to CaptainPollux for beta-ing! :D**

**Enjoy!**

Chapter 5 – Heading Out

After consuming their delicious lunch, Emily and Dr. Banner parted ways, making plans to meet up later in the evening. It was Dr. Banner's turn to procure dinner that night and Emily had offered to help when he mentioned cooking up some curry recipes he picked up while living in the outskirts of India.

Not knowing what else to do, Emily decided to go for a walk in the city. Making sure she had her phone and wallet with her, she headed out, letting JARVIS know what she was doing in the event that anyone wanted to find her.

Out in the streets, Emily headed straight for the closest Starbucks and joined the queue. While waiting in line, she looked around for a table and spotted one in the far corner of the room. She quickly placed her order for a large hot chocolate and a slice of cheesecake and once the order was ready, she brought her items over to the table, sat down, and began to slowly sip her drink. She people-watched from the corner of the room as she enjoyed her warm drink and it wasn't long before she realised that someone was headed for her table. She looked up and noticed a standing next to the table, a coffee mug in his hand and a book tucked under his arm. He gestured to the empty seat opposite her.

"Hey, is this seat taken?"

"No, go ahead." She replied, moving her half-eaten cheesecake to give him more space at the table.

"Thanks. It's kind of crowded here and you looked a lot less intimidating than that guy over there." He motioned to another empty seat at a table where a man in a suit sat glaring at his laptop.

Emily smiled at him. She glanced at the book he was reading and noticed it was _Tuesdays with Morrie _by Mitch Albom.

"Is that book good? I've been thinking about picking it up but haven't gotten around to it."

The boy turned the book over in his hands, "I've just started reading it. I'm not too sure yet. I'll let you know when I'm done, if I see you around." He smiled.

"Sure, thanks. I'll let you get back to it then. I'm Emily by the way."

"Patrick." He smiled before opening his book and leaving Emily to her own devices.

Emily went back to her people watching as she finished up her cake and drink. Once she finished her hot chocolate, she started to collecting her things.

"See you around Patrick." She said before leaving, as he raised his hand in response, eyes never leaving his book.

Emily left Starbucks, missing the cool air-conditioned interior at once. Still, the heat in New York was nothing compared to the humidity in Singapore. She dragged a hand across her forehead before pulling out her phone from her pocket. She browsed through her contact list before selecting a number and putting the phone to her ear.

"Heyyyyyyyyy" she called into the phone, laughing.

"Emily, do you need anything?"

"Nope! I was just going to ask if you needed me to buy anything. I'm hitting the mall so…"

"Give me a minute." Was all she heard from Bruce before the sounds of equipment being put down was heard.

"Alright, you know that organic place around the block?"

"Uh huh, I've visited Uncle Tony many times before you know. I do know the area somewhat."

Bruce chuckled. "Point taken. Could you go in there and get me curry paste? We should still have everything else stocked in the kitchen."

"Will do! Fish, vegetable or meat curry paste?"

"Meat, please."

"Alright then, see you later Dr. Banner!"

"See you then."

Emily put her phone back into her pocket and headed in the direction of the organic market. She plugged her iPod Touch in and skipped along to the music.

Once she had arrived at the market, she grabbed a basket at the entrance before heading in to explore. She headed down the fruits aisle, picking up the fruits she had missed since her last trip to America. Berries, peaches, grapefruits, cherries…fruits that were hard to come by in a tropical country such as Singapore. Granola, greek yoghurt and wild honey followed that into her basket. She wondered around a little more adding items to her basket before finally heading to the spice aisle and picking up a packet of curry paste. She paused for a moment before throwing a bag of fresh shredded coconut into her basket, wincing slightly at the price. That was one thing that was way cheaper back home. She hauled the now heavy basket over to the counter and smiled at the shop assistant. The old lady smiled kindly at her. "Having a dinner party dear?" she asked conversationally.

Emily laughed. "Not exactly…more like a large household." She replied, handing over her debit card.

"Sounds busy. Have a nice day!" she lady smiled at Emily, waving her out of the shop.

"Thank you! You too!" she replied before leaving the shop and heading back to the tower.

**DONE!**

**Reviews and comments much appreciated!**

**Hopefully the next chapter will be up soon!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello my lovely readers!**

**Just to let you know, there may be a rather long wait between this chapter and the next since my most awesome beta CaptainPollux will not have internet access. ):  
But no worries, I will keep writing so you will have a few chapters once the mini-hiatus is over!**

**In the meantime, ideas and reviews are much appreciated.  
I am also thinking of doing little spin offs from this Universe. Let me know what you think about that!**

**Thanks for reading!**

Chapter 6 – Agent Phil Coulson

"HONEY, I'M HOME!" Emily shouted as the stepped out of the elevator.

Silence.

"Damn. That was disappointing." She muttered to herself.

"Welcome back Emily." Came the voice of JARVIS.

"Hey." She replied, putting her groceries on the kitchen island. "Is Bruce still tinkering around in the labs?"

"Dr. Banner and Mr. Stark are currently working on the Mark VIII suit. Would you like me to let them know you have returned?"

"Please. Thank you JARVIS."

Emily started putting the items she had bought into their respective places, only leaving the ingredients of dinner out on the counter. Once that was done, she pulled out two large bowls and a tumbler. She filled the tumbler with filtered water and set it beside the bowls before hunting for a pair of scissors and some cheesecloth.

Tony and Bruce exited the elevator just as she placed the two items on the counter.

"I see Brucey-boy has roped you into helping him with dinner duty." Tony grinned at his niece. Bruce simply rolled his eyes at Tony before washing his hands at the sink. Tony settled himself on a bar stool and reached for the scotch he kept close by only to have it snatched away by Emily.

"Now now Uncle Tony, no drinking before dinner!" she scolded, removing the bottle and placing it behind the sink.

"Now I remember why I hate having you around. You're worse than Peps." He grumbled loudly before holding out his glass, "If I am to be denied inebriation I demand a special drink."

Emily took the glass from her Uncle and went over to the fridge, pulling out a few bottles and mixing something up. She returned it to her uncle. "Thank you for trying to be a good example Uncle Tony." she hugged him, pressing her cheek to his, before going over to wash her hands at the kitchen sink. Tony took at mouthful of his drink and glared at it. The things he did for his niece.

Bruce watched the two of them, wiping his hands on his pants as he moved over to the kitchen counter. He peered over at the packet of shredded coconut.

"I've never used this before." He said, prodding the bag.

Emily moved over to the counter before cutting open the bag and putting about half of the coconut shavings into a bowl and emptying the tumbler of water into it. She pushed the other bowl next to it before plunging her hands into the bowl of coconut.

"Coconut milk? So you dampen the shredded coconut before squeezing the milk out. It's pretty simple and your curry will be so much more awesome." She informed Bruce as she scooped some of the damp coconut into the cheesecloth before squeezing it over the empty bowl.

Bruce watched Emily squeeze out more coconut milk before moving off to prepare the rest of the ingredients.

Before long, the curry was simmering slowly in a large pot and the rice was cooking. Tony kept trying to sneak tastes of the food and was just as often getting his hand slapped away by both Emily and Bruce.

Tony was sulking on the couch when the elevator doors opened and a man in a suit stepped out. Tony took one look at him and groaned. "JARVIS. I thought we agreed that Agent was not to be let in without my knowledge."

"I am sorry sir, Miss Potts has overruled that protocol and I am to let Agent Coulson in whenever he arrives."

"Dammit."

"I see you haven't changed much Mr. Stark. Dr. Banner, Miss." The man in the suit greeted the three occupants in the room.

"Phil! What brings you here?" Dr. Banner greeted.

"His first name is Agent." Tony interjected. Phil and Bruce ignored him.

"Agent Romanov invited me over for dinner. She says you're making a delicious curry. I couldn't say no."

"Ahhh…she does enjoy the curry. Phil, this is Emily. Emily, Agent Phil Coulson of SHIELD."

"Hello!" Emily smiled at him, "How may I address you?"

"Please, call me Phil. And how may I address you Miss…"

"Stark. But seriously, just Emily will do."

"Stark? And how are the two of you related?" he asked, gesturing between the two Starks, brow furrowed.

"I'm surprised you don't already know Agent." Tony snarked.

Bruce rolled his eyes. "Emily is Tony's niece." He says, reaching over and ruffling her hair.

"HEY!" Emily patted her hair back down.

"But according to the SHIELD files Tony Stark is an only child."

"Uhhhh…yeah. Technically, Dad is Uncle Tony's cousin. Anyway, we live in Singapore."

"The artists?" Phil asked, looking mildly confused.

"Yeah. Don't expect me to draw anything though. I inherited zero talent. The only things I can draw are stickmen." Emily replied, handing over a full bowl of coconut milk to Bruce before heading to the sink to wash her hands.

"Well, at least you aren't as obnoxious as Tony." Phil commented.

Emily grinned widely at him. "That's exactly what Natasha said! Like I told her, I may not be as obnoxious but I sure am a lot crazier. Uncle Tony only puts up with me because I can understand_English_. But now he has Dr. Banner he doesn't need me anymore."

"Feel free to go home anytime." Tony said, not turning from the screen.

Emily made a funny face at his back.

"I know what you're doing Emily." He teased before turning around and making the same face at her.

She ducked behind Bruce. "Dr. Banner! Uncle Tony is being mean to me. You should stop him." She hid behind Bruce, using him as a human shield between herself and her uncle. Bruce switched off the gas fire and covered the curry, leaving it on the stove before moving himself back into the living room, Emily trailing behind him.

He sat down on the couch near Tony. Emily stopped and frowned at him. "Nooooo! Dr. Banner!" she whined, dropping down onto the couch in between him and her uncle. Phil looked at her oddly before settling himself in an arm chair off to the side and pulling out a StarkTablet to do some work.

Emily yawned, taking off her glasses and placing them on the table. She leaned on her uncle and closed her eyes, allowing the conversation he was having with Dr. Banner to lull her into sleep.

**THE END (of this chapter)!**

**Reviews please?**

**Hope you liked this! (:**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey everyone!**

**So sorry for the delay but I've been waiting for my beta, CaptainPollux, to get back.**

**I'm getting a little worried. She seems to be missing. ): I hope she's alright.**

**It's been ages, so I decided to go ahead and post some stuff while waiting for her to come back. She inspires a lot of my chapter content, so I'm moving rather slowly since school has started and my awesome beta isn't around ):**

**Anyway, please let me know if any of you see her!**

**Here is the next chapter, the one you guys have been waiting for!**

Emily could hear someone talking to her, asking her to get up. She moaned and snuggled further into the very comfortable pillow she had. She remembered falling asleep on the couch, with her Uncle Tony as a pillow. She cuddled closer to the obliging pillow before her brain kicked in and she realised that the person she was cuddling was definitely not her Uncle Tony. Her pillow smelled different and was a lot less skinny and pokey than she remembered her uncle to be. Since the pillow wasn't doing anything other than try to shake her awake, she just grumbled and held on tighter, still sleepy.

"What the hell!" Emily exclaimed as a jolt of electricity coursed through her. She sat up, dislodging herself from her most comfortable pillow and glaring in the direction of her uncle as she fumbled around for her glasses before putting them on and narrowing her eyes.

Her uncle was holding a small cattle prod and smirking at her. She glared back before noticing the other Avengers had returned and were glancing in her direction worriedly, constantly sneaking glances at her comfy pillow.

She turned around and smiled widely at Bruce. "Thank you for letting me use you as a pillow Dr. Banner."

He flushed lightly. "Not a problem."

"Definitely much more comfortable than Uncle Tony." She said before making an odd face at her uncle, only to have it returned.

She ran a hand through her mussed hair and looked around, only to spot the rest of the Avengers looking between her and Bruce. She quickly smoothed down her hair.

"What's up guys!" he greeted, trying to divert their attention from Bruce, who was beginning to look uncomfortable. "So there's dinner for curry- I mean, curry for dinner and I'm really hungry right now. Hey…where's Phil?"

"Phil's here?" Clint asked, perking up immediately, causing one of the corners or Natasha's mouth to quirk upwards.  
Just then, Phil exited the bathroom, wiping his damp hands on his pants.

"PHIL!" Clint exclaimed excitedly rushing towards him and hugging him tightly.

Phil just reached up and patted Clint on the head soothingly, murmuring something into his ear. Clint released Phil from the hug but kept a firm grip on his forearm as if afraid that he would disappear.

Emily looked from them to the others and noticed the slightly sad smiles on some of their faces.

"Uh…am I missing something here?" she asked, reaching up to scratch at her head, confused.

Bruce grabbed her upper arm and steered her in the direction of the kitchen, talking lowly. "Phil had a very close brush with death recently and Clint tends to get very clingy, especially when Phil comes back from long bouts on the helicarrier." He indicated for Emily to start dividing up the rice, handing her some plates.

"Ohhhhhhh… I get that. I was totally like that after Uncle Tony got back from Afghanistan. Are they…you know…together?" she asked, gesturing between the two with the rice scoop. Bruce nodded.

"They don't get a lot of time together since Phil is always needed on the helicarrier and Clint lives here."

Emily hummed to indicate that she had heard as she arranged the plates of rice around the table. Bruce came over and placed the large pot of curry in the middle and everyone settled down for dinner, Clint firmly attached to Phil's side.

"The curry tastes different today." Natasha commented, spooning more onto her rice.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Emily asked.

"I like it." Steve volunteered from the rice cooker, where he was serving himself another plate of rice.

"This curry is most delicious. ANOTHER!" Thor shouted, throwing his plate on the floor and startling Emily.

"What the-!" Emily shrieked, almost falling out of her chair in alarm, only stopped by Bruce and Tony reaching out to grab her before she fell over.

Steve turned to look at Thor disapprovingly. "What did I say about smashing cups and plates?"

"Friend Steve, I am simply showing my appreciation for the delicious meal prepared by our comrades!"

"You could have just asked for another plate." Phil added dryly.

Steve pulled out another plate and loaded it with rice before bringing both over to the table and handing one over to Thor. He left his at his place before going round the corner and coming back with a broom and dustpan, which he handed to Thor.

"Now, clean it up."

"My apologies Captain." Thor replied, as he obediently swept up the remnants of the plate before dumping them into the trashbin.

"Dr. Banner, this curry is most delicious! As fine as any stew in Asgard!" Thor declared, stirring the curry into his rice.

"It's good. What did you put in it?" Natasha asked, pointing her spoon at Bruce.

Bruce waved in Emily's direction. "Emily decided to use fresh coconut milk instead of the packaged stuff that I usually use."

Emily swallowed. "That's how we usually do it at home. Admittedly, the shredded coconut is a lot cheaper than it is here."

"ths suff ish amahing" Tony said, around his mouthful of rice and curry, earning himself a mixture of disapproving and disgusted looks from Natasha, Steve and Phil. "oo e eave enof fo leffoverrs?"

Bruce and Emily rolled their eyes simultaneously, all too used to Tony's habit of trying to speak with his mouth full.

"Yes, we do have enough. You can have some for lunch tomorrow. If you remember to leave your lab to have lunch, that is." Emily said

"Pfft! I'll bring it down with me later and keep it in the fridge." Tony scoffed before going back to shovelling food into his mouth.

Emily looked around at the table watching as conversation flowed freely around her. She noticed that other than her Uncle, no one really made an effort to engage with Bruce. It didn't seem like the others were conscious of this. It was clear that Natasha, Clint and Coulson tended to stick together as they had known each other for the longest. Thor was satisfied to listen and interject with a question when something confused him and her Uncle and Steve seemed to just bicker about everything and anything. Bruce was quiet at her side, only speaking up when her uncle addressed him directly. Emily could feel him withdrawing slowly as he focused more on his food than on the conversation around them. She shifted closer to him pressing casually into his side. He looked up, surprised. Emily simply offered a kind smile, which was returned and the two of them finished their meal in companionable silence.

Once he was done, Steve offered to do clean up duty, gathering plates and cutlery.

Clint and Phil left in the direction of Clint's floor while Natasha mentioned something about knives. Thor had settled down to watch some odd reality programme and was shouting random bits of advice to the contestants. Tony had already wandered down to his workshop with a box of packed leftovers. Emily looked over at Bruce, who was just about to slip out the door.

"Hey!" Bruce turned to look at her "Chess?" Bruce looked surprised but nodded and they made their way to his floor, where he set up a game in his massive study.

They played late into the night before falling asleep in front of the television, the sounds of Inception playing in the background.

**THE END!**

**Thanks for reading! Review please! 3**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey guys! Sorry this has taken so long…  
I finally located my beta again! Thank you so much CaptainPollux for helping me out with my fic!**

**Okay. So Chapter 9 will take a while because I hit a mental block and now I'm bugging my beta for help.  
I am, as always, open to ideas.  
**

**To all those who have kept reading, and still are, thank you for your patience! I love you guys so much! Reviews keep me going like nothing else.**

**Chapter 8 – It's called Avengers Tower for a Reason**

It had been about a week since Emily moved into the Avengers Tower. To her disappointment, she hadn't really seen much of her uncle as he had been holed up in the lab working on the newest generation of his suit. She knew how he was when he was focused on a project. Her uncle was rather busy, so she had used the time she had over the week to get to know the rest of the Avengers somewhat better.

Natasha was the most closed off of all of them, but made an effort to converse with her while she was around. She was easy to talk to, but looking back on their conversations, she realized that the other woman had shared virtually nothing about herself.

Clint was still mildly unhappy about being woken up early on her first day in the tower but the presence of Phil did make him considerably less grumpy.

Steve was genuinely one of the nicest people she had ever met. He held no ill will towards any one and was always willing to offer a hand. Though, he definitely needed to catch up with the times and seemed a little too old-fashioned to assimilate fully into the 21st century. Emily found it rather endearing. Besides, some of the values that the others found quirky were values instilled in her as a child.

Thor was like a giant golden retriever. He was loud and boisterous and always telling stories and grabbing people up into hugs unexpectedly.

Phil was different. He was quiet but had a very dry sense of humor that she identified with easily. He would say the most unexpected things that usually had Emily and Clint laughing while the others looked puzzled and Natasha smirked quietly to herself.

Bruce was another story altogether. He was quiet and unassuming and never brought attention to himself. Emily had taken to spending time with him, quietly reading, playing friendly games of chess or watching movies. It was clear that the 'other guy'wasn't far from his mind. It was clear that her firm insistence that he shouldn't let it be such an integral part of his social interactions bothered him. She would be lying if she said it didn't, but she believed it bothered Bruce a lot more than it should. Sure, having a friend who could turn into a giant green rage monster at the slightest aggravation was terrifying but Emily knew Bruce had control and would not allow the 'other guy' to hurt her. Besides, she was sure that the 'other guy' wasn't a mindless monster and wouldn't hurt anyone who didn't try to hurt him first.

Currently, Emily was holed up in the dance studio, stretching out her limbs, music blasting loudly. She was in the process of stretching out her back, holding herself in the bridge position, when the door to her studio banged open. Emily gave a startled yelp and collapsed into an undignified heap on the floor. She looked up to find a rather frazzled looking uncle looking down at her. He leaned down and hauled her up before dragging her out of the room.

"Hey! Uncle Tony! What's going on?" she asked, worried as she scrambled after him.

"Doombots. Here, in the tower. I'm putting you somewhere safe." He said, pulling her along.

Soon, they found themselves outside Tony's workshop. He shoved her into a room marked supply closet.

"But Uncle Tony-!"

"No, stay here. I reinforced this supply closet. In case anything finds you, there are flamethrowers and hammers and other shit. DON'T LEAVE." he said while fixedly staring at her with a serious expression on his face that Emily didn't see often. " I'll come get you after."

With that he closed the door and left. Soon enough, Emily heard loud crashing sounds from above. She groped around in the dark until she found a switch. Flicking it turned the entire door into a one way glass (Actually I was using this to exaggerate Tony's abilities.) allowing light in and allowing Emily to see what was going on outside the storage closet. The rooted around the shelves before picking up a large spanner, a hammer and a blowtorch before putting them within arms reach. She looked around again and spotted a safety cabinet. She opened it and found a few bottles of hydrochloric acid and a small bottle of hydrogen peroxide. She picked up the peroxide and it joined her small stash of weapons.

She sat just inside of the door and looked out at the lab. The Doombots had yet to get into it. She could see Dummy and You wheeling around the lab, Dummy holding on to his favourite fire extinguisher while You rolled around in circles. She spotted Butterfingers in a corner, trying to keep out of trouble. That was good. Butterfingers was always dropping things and would just be a danger to himself. No matter how many times Uncle Tony had threatened to donate them, she knew he loved his little AIs like children.

Suddenly, the glass door to the lab shattered, startling Emily. She jumped, picking up the large spanner and clutching onto it tightly. She shook slightly as a lone Doombot wandered into the lab, tripping over You. She was relieved when it simply shoved You out of the way. Hopefully, that meant that this Doombot was not equipped with any weapons. Still, Doombots were rather terrifying and could still hurt her. She clutched the spanner tightly as she tracked the Doombot's movements with her eyes. Her heart rate increased as the Doombot scanned the room, before finally stopping with its eyes on the storage closet. It slowly advanced and Emily backed away from the door slightly, holding the spanner high above her head. The Doombot had wrenched the door open and was reaching out for her when Emily brought the spanner down on its head, screaming loudly. That stunned the Doombot, but only dented it slightly. Emily picked up the blowtorch and bottle of peroxide before dodging around the disoriented Doombot and heading into the lab.

"Dummy! Dummy! Spray it if it comes okay!?" she stuttered at the robot. Dummy made a small chirping sound, rolling round her happily. She patted him. "Good boy."

The Doombot had turned around and was headed towards her. It was still disoriented, walking in zig-zags. The blow to its head must have loosened some wires. Emily held the bottle in one hand while she rooted around in a drawer with another.

When she heard the sound of the fire extinguisher accompanied by Dummy chirping, she looked up to find the Doombot a few meters away. She shouted for Dummy to get out of the way before she hurled the bottle of peroxide at it.

The Doombot made a sound of distress and clutched at its face as the peroxide slowly burned the metal. Emily used its disorientation to bash its head in a much as she could, hoping the hit the optics. She was no engineer, unlike her Uncle and could not possibly tell what each wire was for simply by looking at them. She was so focused on her task that she did not register the Doombot's actions until its mechanical hand was wrapped around her neck. Emily screamed as the Doombot's hand tightened around her throat. She struggled for breath, her mind registering Dummy frantically spraying the Doombot with the fire extinguisher. Her vision was slowly graying at the edges as breathing became a difficulty. She thought she heard a loud roar of anger but she couldn't be sure.

'Maybe this is what people mean when they say they see a light at the end of a tunnel…' was her final thought as her vision tunneled before blacking out.

**THE END! Of Chapter 8 that is.  
Please message or review, telling me what you'd like to see!**

**3**


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